The ACR
by naturelover182
Summary: The ANBU Common Room. Really, who knew that the existence of one room could create ripples in the Naruto Universe? (Mainly ANBU-centric and Naruto-centric)
1. Chapter 1

The ACR

Chapter One

Hello everyone! I've decided to post this little thing and I hope you all like it! This can stay a one-shot if people dislike it or want it to stay that way, but if you guys like it I have a 2nd chapter written and a 3rd in progress. Enjoy! (By the way: I don't own Naruto.)

* * *

The ACR, formally known as the ANBU Common Room, was a place for ANBU to meet and talk to each other. The idea for the room was started when ANBU death rates began rising, and not all of them were war casualties. Surprisingly to some, once the ACR, then known as the ANBU Coffee Room, was built those rates began to drop. After all, ninjas are only human and all humans need contact with others, especially when those humans are in ANBU. Nowadays, however, the ACR is no longer a coffee room but a common room and just a place for ANBU to sit, talk and stave off any boredom during leave when going back to normal society felt a bit off.

Today there wasn't much to talk about other than pestering a new recruit to stop using her voice modifier, at least in the common room. Tiger stood her ground and stayed in the corner of the room with her dog, away from any sneaking hands attempting to steal the device.

Suddenly, Lion, the head captain of ANBU, burst in. "I need at least two fast trackers, it's another RP."

As soon as his statement was out almost all of the ANBU seemed to shrink and try to blend in with their surroundings. Only the two new recruits in the room were left standing, Tiger and Bat. If they didn't have their masks on their faces, they probably would have been ones of confusion.

Lion growled, "Is that all? Well, that's to be expected." He turned his attention directly on the new recruits, "Are you two fast and good at tracking?"

Tiger stepped forward; a monotone voice filled the room, "Aoki is capable of tracking well like all Inuzuka dogs," at this, several ANBU wondered, not for the first time, how an Inuzuka ended up with a feline name. "I also consider myself quite fast."

The ANBU captain nodded and turned to Bat, "And you?"

Bat spoke without use of a voice modifier, "I am adept at sensing chakra signatures and even though I am fast I am most likely much slower than Tiger."

Lion looked at the two ANBU up and down before saying, "Good enough. Come with me."

All three ninja left the ACR and the mood lightened.

Snake all but cackled, "They'll never know what hit them, literally!" Seeing as see forewent the bandana, the chakra neutralizer, and the voice modifier, everyone, even new recruits, knew her identity of Mitarashi Anko. All it did was give her treats an extra edge and make most of the ANBU population hope that she would get transferred to the T&I division soon.

"It's like he knows when there are new recruits and he's initiating them in." commented Ram. The whole room shivered, that was too creepy a thought to dwell on.

In an attempt to change the subject Mouse piped up, "Do you think either of them will quit like Horse did?" All the ANBU remembered Horse. The ninja had gone on a RP and never came back. The next day they had been informed that she had quit.

"Nah," Spider spoke, her lazy way of speaking suggested the possibility of her being a Nara. "Tiger's too strong headed and Bat isn't the type to throw an emotional fit and quit. Anyway, what do you think the new recruits think RP stand for?"

Mouse said, "I don't know what they thought, but when I first heard of it I thought it was something along the lines of Red Panic."

Ram nodded, "Same for me."

"Ha! Well I thought it meant Rabid Pooch, which would stand for a lunatic was on the loose." Snake thought for a moment and continued, "Or at the very least a wanted criminal."

The three other ANBU stared at the kunoichi. Eventually Spider shook her head slowly and said, "Even I can't understand why you would think that."

The door to the ACR squeaked and all the ANBU turned toward it, it had been at most seven minutes since the three other ninja had left and no one had ever finished a RP that fast. Wolf had finished at twenty-one minutes and Weasel had at twenty-five. Everyone else never came close.

But, when the door fully opened it was only Eagle on the other side and the ANBU in the room sighed in relief.

"You all sound delighted to see me." remarked Eagle as he made his way to the coffee 'maker.' It was really just a set of complicated seals that none of the ANBU really tried to figure out.

"Tiger and Bat just went out for their first RP a few minutes ago. "Mouse offered as an explanation.

"Ah." Eagle brought his coffee with him as he sat on a couch, next to Spider. "They'll never guess it stands for Ramen Preparation."

The other ninjas all nodded in agreement, except for Ram. He asked, "Ramen Preparation? Last I checked, it was Ramen Procedure."

Snake waved a hand with a smirk on her face, "Some smart-ass thought of a new name and it was approved. Something to do with double meanings. I didn't bother paying attention after that."

Mouse thought, 'That definitely sounds like something Snake would do,' and picked up on the explanation, "One part of the meaning is linked to the previous name of Ramen Procedure, because it signifies that someone should tell the ramen stand owner to start preparing for a large batch of ramen." The ninja looked to Spider for a continuation.

Spider did, "So, the other part is a bit less literal. It requires you to think of the ninja world as a bowl of ramen and all the ninja in it are ingredients." Snake snickered a little at this and only laughed more openly when Eagle shot a look at her.

Spider paid no mind to the two and continued to speak, "Our little 'golden boy' has a perfect name and you can think of him as narutomaki. What we are doing is cutting the narutomaki up, or preparing him so he can enter the ninja world easily."

Ram nodded and said, "That's a good idea. Whoever thought of it must be pretty creative."

Snake started to snicker again and this time no one bothered to stop her.

* * *

Five hours later left only Eagle and Spider in the common room.

The door opened and in trudged Tiger, Bat, and Lion. Lion immediately went to the coffee stand with Bat following, while Tiger decided to collapse on one of the sofa chairs in the room with Aoki curled up by her feet.

Spider observed, "You look like you had a lot of fun."

Tiger moaned in response. "I am never doing a RP again."

Eagle and Spider were surprised when they heard Tiger's real voice. Spider had failed at convincing the kunoichi to go without the device and Eagle had heard from Spider.

Lion offered as an explanation, "Someone stole it."

There wasn't really a need to guess who that 'someone' was.

Bat sat down with his coffee, Lion had decided to stand behind the couch Eagle and Spider were sitting on, and had his turn to moan. "My wallet..."

Eagle shared his pain, as he had been the one to pay during his RP.

"How can one kid eat so much ramen?" Bat uttered and then Tiger commented, "How can he be so hard to catch? The kid wears a kill-me-now-orange jumpsuit."

Lion sighed, "Actually, I was the one to give him the jumpsuit."

Both of the new recruits turned to their captain in surprise.

"He was harder to catch before that even though he was younger," Spider chimed with a small smile at the looks on their faces.

"You mean, he used to be worse?" Tiger stared, almost dumbly, at the other kunoichi.

Eagle would've snorted, had it not been too coarse for his upbringing, and said, "You got it lucky. Judging from your looks he didn't set off any major pranks on you."

"He pranks you back?" Bat asked in almost the same way as Tiger had.

"Yup," Lion nodded a lazy affirmative. "You know, that kid is going to be a menace when he joins ANBU." They all knew it wasn't just a possibility, they were sure that they'd be seeing him in their ranks soon enough.

"Well, look at it this way," Spider offered, "If he's in ANBU he wouldn't have a chance to pull more pranks."

The room relaxed with chuckles and Tiger laughed, "That brat would certainly make a good ninja."

"Good? You mean legendary I'm sure." Lion corrected her in a light voice and brought more chuckles about.

They all knew Uzumaki Naruto was going to go far and they would help the boy on his way to becoming the greatest ninja he could be.

* * *

The Data Book: The ACR

Built by an uncertain Hashirama Senju at the suggestion of his wife, Mito Uzumaki, the ANBU Common Room (formerly ANBU Coffee Room) is a popular gathering place at the ANBU headquarters to relax. Inside there are a variety of seats and a set of seals on a table that is somehow able to produce coffee, also courtesy of the Shodai Hokage. Surprisingly, the room has never been destroyed so far.

The room is located next to a large training room from the hallway behind it, and there has been talk of a door connecting the two rooms, although no real plans for it have been made yet.

* * *

Thank you for reading! Please leave a thought about whether or not you would like it to continue, if you want. And if there are any problems please tell me!


	2. Chapter 2

The ACR

Chapter Two

Here is the second chapter for The ACR! I appreciate all of the reviews (all 3 of them anyway, lol) and hope that whoever finds this story enjoys it. (My informal disclaimer from the first chapter still stands.)

* * *

Cat lounged on a couch in the ACR, as languid as her namesake would've been. There was no one else in the room and the ninja had allowed herself to relax- and to think.

It was common knowledge in ANBU ranks that the container of the Kyuubi did not have the best of lifestyles. It was also common knowledge that they weren't allowed to do much to help, though it didn't stop them from doing some things. They were, after all, ninjas. Sometimes, Cat cursed the civilian council and wished that they'd stay out of most, if not all, ninja affairs. But that would be impossible since the whole reason the council was created was for civilians to have a say in ninja matters.

But really, even though the villagers couldn't physically harm the boy, the neglect! When Naruto wasn't pranking he just looked so alone.

Cat sighed and decided to go out into the village for a walk. Maybe the fresh air would send her thoughts in a different direction.

* * *

It usually is a surprise when one walks in a building full of fully grown, trained ninja only to find a seven year old boy in the common room.

"Cat, what is a seven year old boy doing here?" The ANBU who asked, Locust, was Cat's teammate on Team Sneak.

"He- The swing- I- It just happened," Cat finished lamely.

Under her mask, Spider, who was also a part of Team Sneak, rose her eyebrows. "Oh really now?"

The other kunoichi turned her face away and mumbled, "It isn't my fault that he had to be there while I was going for a walk."

The other two nodded, understanding everything the ninja hadn't said.

All this time the little boy who was the subject of the conversation had remained silent, somehow realizing that interrupting would not go over well. So as the adults talked Naruto _felt_. And then he blinked. He couldn't feel them.

"Who are you?"

At this, the three ninja in the ACR turned toward the blonde boy. He realized that all their attention was turned toward him and eeped before quickly running behind one of the couches in the room.

Locust let out the smallest of snorts of amusement and sent out a little bug to fly in front of the boy. "Do you remember me now, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto started at the bug until it landed on his nose, forcing him to go cross-eyed. But, he continued to stare at it with a look of fierce concentration. "Oh!"

"Yes, it's me. Do you know that some of my kikaichu still prefer to stay away from me?"

The bubbly-blonde boy hung his head a little and said a small, "Sorry."

'Someone's been teaching this kid manners,' Spider noted. He certainly hadn't been that polite when she had done her first and only RP. But then again, there wasn't really room for many manners when chasing or being chased.

"Then you better remember me, kid. I wasted eight and a half hours on you instead of sitting with my deer."

Again, Naruto stared at the ANBU, concentrating hard. But this time, after a while, he cocked his head, bug finally flying off, and asked, "Which one're you right now?"

Spider frowned, "Which one? There's only one of me you know."

Naruto fidgeted a bit, not sure as to how he could get his point across to the adults around him. "Are you being the gardening one or are you the one with the dark spider-webby thingy?"

The ANBU kneeled down to get eye level with the boy and tapped her mask, "This is a spider mask, kid. And I don't garden, that's my sister's hobby."

"Sister? But you're the same person!" Naruto argued.

Now the whole room was confused. Spider was Spider, and her sister was her sister. The two were fraternal twins but looked very dissimilar. Spider took after her Nara dad while her sister happened to take after her civilian mother.

Naruto was pouting and looking down, no one understood! The blonde closed his eyes and tried to reach to that place where he could feel the best. Everything suddenly got a lot sharper, but the what he was looking for wasn't there yet.

The boy's pout changed to a frown. Something was preventing him from feeling more precisely. It was like a wall, or a cage, or a box. Naruto took his strength and wretched open the door connecting him and his ability.

Almost instantly, his head shot up. "I got it!" The blonde smiled widely, "Spider-nee's like cold water, you know, like _whoosh_, an' it's like when you stand in it, an' then the other nee-chan is like sunny an' _wa_!" Naruto gestured all throughout his little speech, happy he could express himself better.

The three ANBU looked at each other, still confused. Locust suddenly had an idea, a far-out there idea, but an idea none the less.

He strode forward to Naruto and picked the boy up. The masked ninja felt a small flash of how he did this so often with his little cousin, but who would pick this boy up?

As soon as the boy got close to Locust he adopted a peaceful expression, but his face scrunched up a few seconds later.

"Yours is funny." Naruto declared.

"Well, that's what happens when people get tricked through a permanent chakra changer." The boy looked a bit regretful but didn't really seen to mean it. Cat and Spider stared in disbelief at the two males as Locust remembered his last RP.

He had caught the small boy and was bringing him into ANBU headquarters to let Naruto rest while he was knocked out (he hadn't been looking and hit his head on a protruding brick.)

When the two were passing be the long term mission prep rooms (sometimes called LIMP by annoyed ninjas, who really didn't want to go on such long missions, by changing the word term to interim just to be confusing) Naruto had suddenly woken up and wriggled out of a surprised Locust's grip. He had dashed away to one of the rooms.

Then, through a series of events the Aburame would rather not recount, he stumbled through a permanent chakra changer, meant for the _really_ long term missions, that the previous Bat had been about to use. It had taken a very long time to get his natural chakra signature back, and even then there were still large tints of foreign signature in his chakra. To sum it up, his kikaichu were not happy.

"So you're saying-" Cat would've spluttered had she not been in ANBU and seen crazier things, "that he recognizes people by chakra?" Her voice had risen a little at the last word.

"Well, it would explain some things," Spider had decided to collapse on a couch nearby with her hand propping up her head.

Locust picked up where Spider left off, "He concentrates too much when he meets others, my chakra feels weird to him, and he can't tell you and you sister apart immediately."

"Not to mention he recognizes who's doing an RP before he sees them, if he's met them before. Remember how painted a lion face on one of the village walls? We thought it was a coincidence since he never saw Lion." Spider wrapped up.

This was why the three were on a team without another member. Spider was their main thinker but Locust had insights that she did not. Cat was the main power force of their team and was outstanding at infiltrating even without the help of her teammates. All together, they made a an excellent information gathering/infiltration team.

While the three adults were talking, Naruto observed, with childish innocence, the kikaichu flitting around him. He didn't know what the nee-chans and the onii-san were talking about, but it didn't matter cause it felt really nice to be held. He leaned in closer and realized it was getting closer to nap time too...

Locust looked down at the boy in his arms when he realized that Naruto had fallen asleep.

"It's amazing he can still fall asleep with that much trust in you," Spider remarked.

The ninja nodded, it was astounding. Orphans weren't exactly the most trusting of people and most ANBU knew that this little orphan's life was tougher than most.

Cat came closer and stroked Naruto's hair. "How can they not see him as a savoir?"

Spider walked up to her teammates, "You're walking a pretty fine line Cat," and though her words were harsh her eyes held warmth as they looked at the child.

"Give him to me," Spider continued, "How many children have you held while they were sleeping before, Locust? You're doing it wrong."

Locust gave the sleeping boy to his partner and she proceeded to hold the boy gently.

Spider looked down at the boy and said, "I'm going to bring him into my room. Who knows how long this kid will sleep, and he's certainly not doing it on a couch."

She walked briskly out of the room, still looking the Nara brand of lazy and dignified, even with the child in her arms.

After a few moments when Spider was out of hearing range, Locust said, "Well, it looks like she's a sucker for children."

The two laughed softly.

* * *

The Data Book: ANBU Hierarchy

ANBU have several captains, thanks to their multiple bases, and one overall captain, Lion, who is based at headquarters, actually located under the Hokage Tower.

There is another captain at headquarters, one in the Forest of Death (they never said they were telling the truth when they said it was abandoned), one right outside of the village near the academy, and one located in the middle of Hi no Kuni.

However, many ANBU from different centrals tend to visit headquarters, not just for missions, but to visit the ACR. Eagle, who is located near the academy, is one such example.

* * *

Congratulations for get down here! Drop a review for any questions, problems, or comments. (Also, I don't really know exactly how a seven year old is supposed to act, so tell me if I got something wrong please.)


	3. Chapter 3

The ACR

Chapter Three

So much for updating every other week... This is what happens when you have sadistic history teachers... T.T

Anyway, I thank everyone that reviewed and hope you enjoy the third chapter of the ACR. At first, I had complete writer's block and didn't like it, but then I started typing it up and it turned to the longest chapter so far.

* * *

Ninjas are beings of stealth that sneak through the darkness. This naturally means that ninjas must be silent. However, this does not mean that ninja are naturally quiet. That is a learned trait.

Yet for ANBU, quiet _felt_ like it was born naturally in them. And so, when increasingly loud steps neared the door to the ACR, they wondered if they were ever that loud. But considering who exactly was approaching, they probably weren't.

A little blonde boy burst into the room at looked at it and its occupants. Eagle was sitting with some coffee on an armchair while Locust and Mouse had been conversing softly on a sofa. The two had stopped when Naruto had entered, and now faced him.

Behind Naruto stood Cat, looking a bit put out. The boy took Cat by the hand and dragged her forward to an empty seat.

"Here Cat-nee-chan. Sit an' stay!" he pushed the ANBU down a bit, trying to get Cat to sit. It didn't really work, but the kunoichi sat down anyway.

Cat sat, and in a few seconds the blonde was out the door again, remembering to close it behind him.

Eagle turned to the ninja on the seat beside him. "So you got found?"

Cat sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Yeah. If he honed his senses hard enough I bet he would be able to find just about anyone. No wonder he was so hard to find on the RPs. He could sense where we were!"

Locust picked up his coffee and in a swift movement pushed his mask aside, downed his coffee, and pushed his mask back in place, a movement all ANBU knew how to do. However, Wolf took the skill to a whole new level. Mouse looked at the bug-named ANBU and realized, "Where is Spider?"

Locust replied simply with, "Visiting relations."

"Then where is Kit going?" Eagle leaned forward in his seat, using the name that several ANBU had agreed upon for Naruto. It fit, with a bad sense of humor.

"Don't worry about him. He's probably trying to find any random person right now." Cat leaned her head back to rest it on the back of her seat.

"Maybe he even found one of our captains' hiding place." Mouse joked, "He's not known as an unpredictable prankster for nothing."

Cat burst out laughing, "The kid would probably do that!"

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," Locust intoned with a deadpan voice. The whole room stilled and waited in a tense silence for a few moments after the statement until Eagle broke it by saying, "Do not scare us like that, Locust. Some things should not be joked about."

The room relaxed.

"You're acting particularly stuffy right now Eagle. Need to go to the bathroom?" Cat's aura radiated smugness while the Hyuuga's emitted embarrassment. The ninja most likely had a small blush on his face.

"Anyway, what if Kit had found Snake somehow? I'm enjoying the peace right now and don't need her disturbing it." Cat was now curled up in her chair.

The other ANBU nodded, agreeing with her. The silence persisted until footsteps approached the door.

"Looks like Naruto's back," Cat observed, "and he seems to be alone." The last word was stressed and directed at Locust.

Again, the door opened, but softer this time. The bubbly blonde was revealed standing in the doorway tugging along someone. But this time it wasn't Cat behind Naruto but a ninja with a snarling lupine mask.

Locust snuck a one look at Cat that said, 'You were saying?' before quickly looking back at their captain- Wolf.

Naruto, ignoring any of the tension in the room, tugged Wolf forward and the ninja complied. The boy sat the ANBU in one of the empty chairs left in the ACR and ran over to Locust to sit in between the ninja and Mouse.

"See, see? I found everyone! I even found Wolf-nii-san 'cause he was hiding even when you were 'plaing the rules!"

Locust looked down at the eager boy, who looked quite like a little puppy at the moment, and watched his captain out of the corner of his eye. Why couldn't have Naruto found someone else? Lion would've been better!

"You did, well, Kit." The ninja said slowly. In response the boy beamed. However, Locust swore that Wolf's eyes were boring into the side of his head.

Naruto continued to smile widely, "But it was really weird, 'cause Wolf-nii-san kept goin' away an' then I couldn't find him an' then he'd come back an' I'd find him again an'-" The blonde stopped in the middle of speech, not to take a breath, but to shoot off of the couch while cheering, "Nee-chan!"

Immediately, he ran out of the room, most likely to meet with Spider.

Locust turned to where his captain was staring at him. He wasn't sure whether or not Naruto's stay at the ANBU headquarters was official yet, what with all the paper work and such, but he hoped it was.

After a small pause- Locust was sure that Eagle and Cat were snickering in their minds, stupid Hyuugas, and annoying teammates- Wolf drawled out, "Maa, imagine my surprise when I saw a baby fox running about playing hide-and-seek with my men."

Dang. That meant the papers probably hadn't gotten to the captain yet. Locust let the sound of his kikaichu calm him before answering, "We wanted to see how well the kid could sense others."

"Ah, it's Kit isn't it?" the ninja cocked his head a little and said, "It was on the paper work for his stay here."

Locust swore his captain was enjoying himself too much.

Cat cut in, "Does that mean that his stay is official now?"

Wolf's eyebrows rose beneath his mask and said, "What happened to unemotional killers? You all seem quite attached."

"Since when did you care about those rules after you actually came back to ABNU?" Cat retorted.

Eagle, Locust and Mouse all nodded in small motions.

The captain also gave a lazy nod at the truth in Cat's statement. "That's true. And, yes his stay here is now approved by the Hokage."

The room filled with restrained happiness and Locust and Cat exchanged a look. They decided that Cat would end up telling Spider the news.

Suddenly, Mouse shot up.

"It's time for me to prepare for my mission," she explained while hurrying out of the room. "I'm afraid I'm late, this was an interesting conversation to watch."

Eagle nodded while Cat waved a hand and said, "Nice to know of our great entertainment value."

Mouse gave a short laugh before exiting.

Locust turned back toward his captain. "So where is Kit going to sleep at night?"

The other ANBU realized they hadn't thought about that yet. Last night, Naruto had slept in Spider's room while the ninja in question slept in the empty fourth room of the squad.

"He's been assigned as your shadow member." The captain replied and addressed the two under his command. His voice turned amused, "It also turns out that he was given a blank mask."

The two under the ninja's command, and the one who wasn't, just looked at the captain. Wolf looked back at them and added a, "It's non-charged too."

Locust spoke first, "Does this mean that Kit is actually an official member in our ranks?"

The door to the room opened just as Wolf replied, "It was the only way to get him in."

Spider's teammates were up in a flash and even as they approached her, Spider was sighing and saying, "What happened this time?"

The two radiated joy and Cat felt it slowly affecting her as well.

"Well," Cat answered slowly, "There's this new recruit that passed the exam and training period."

Locust jumped in to continue even though Cat was supposed to be the one to tell the whole thing. It was almost instinctive for the team to finish each other's sentences anyway.

"So this little new recruit needs a team to shadow."

"And so-" started Cat, but stopped at Spider's held up hand and the feline-named ANBU smiled and teased, "That was slow Spider. Is your intellect finally waning?"

Spider picked up Naruto, who had been staring up at the adults, and replied, "Nah, I figured it out when you said 'new recruit.' I was just too lazy to pick up my hand. Anyway, it was about time we got that room filled."

Eagle threw in his two cents by saying, "It turns out he's getting a blank mask as well." He paused and then added, "Non-charged."

During the conversation Wolf had gotten up and ambled over with to the coffee seal with grace, which was totally unfair in Eagle's opinion, and commented, "It wouldn't really be surprising if it was though."

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Naruto finally spoke up and asked, "What'cha talking about?"

Spider shifted the boy in her arms to get a better grip on him and replied, "It turns out you're going to be staying here with Locust, Cat, and I, Kit."

The blonde blinked and said, "Does this mean I haf' to change my name?"

The whole group who was standing at the door had been slowly moving toward the available seating in the room and Spider had just been sitting down when Naruto asked his question. Locust sat down next to them and asked the boy, "Why would that happen?"

Naruto tumbled out of Spider's hold onto the seat and said, "Everyone who gets to live somewhere else gets a new name! Naomi-chan got her name changed to Morimoto Shigeru-chan!"

Wolf had sat down with his coffee a little while ago and replied, "We aren't going to change your family name, Kit."

"Why not?" curious eyes turned toward the captain.

He paused and swallowed for a second before saying, "Your name is special, Naruto-kun. You have two, and Naomi-chan only had one, correct?"

The boy nodded.

"Because of that we aren't going to change your name. We're only going to add to it. Uzumaki Naruto 'Kit.' Doesn't that sound nice?" Locust cut in for his captain and didn't add anymore.

The small boy eagerly accepted the explanation. Had Naruto been older, Locust probably would've had to explain more, but as the boy was only seven, it would suffice.

"So where am I gonna sleep?" By now the blonde was bouncing in his seat. He was adopted and had lots of nee-chans and nii-sans!

Spider stood up and brushed a hand over one of her pants legs. "I'll show you, Kit. You're going to sleep in the room right next to the one you slept in yesterday."

For some reason, Naruto's eyes went wide. "That's not your room?"

Cat chuckled and told the boy, "Her room is where you slept last night."

The would-be-Hokage nodded slowly, and then brightened up. "Okay!" He jumped off the sofa and tugged Spider's pants. "Let's go nee-chan!"

She nodded while smiling fondly under her mask. "Sure, Kit. Don't give yourself a heart attack from all the excitement."

Naruto just bounced more than before and tugged the ANBU out of the ACR.

Silence persisted for a few moments before Wolf stood up, coffee cup left empty on the table.

He looked at the room's occupants before saying, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Eagle replied, "I didn't know there was anything to wait for."

The captain leaned back on his left leg. "Didn't you see Kit? I have a feeling something's going to happen and I am not going to miss it."

The other three exchanged looks and decided to follow the ninja. After all, if the legendary Copy-ninja said something was going to happen, it probably was going to happen.

"Let's go." Wolf was already striding out the room and the rest followed.

* * *

"I knew I should have tried harder to get moved to headquarters. You all actually have a kitchen area!"

Eagle continued to look around Team Sneak's rooms. There was a common living room which connected to four other rooms, one for each team member and an extra that was now going to be Naruto's room. The room also had a three and a half foot tall wall in the middle of the room to separate the living room from a little kitchen area.

Naruto didn't look around as he had already seen the room before, and he proceeded to tug Spider's pants while asking, "Where's my room?"

She smiled down fondly at the boy and directed him to the room that was directly opposite the door. "You're going to sleeping here."

The boy nodded, but didn't go forward.

Locust asked, "What's wrong, Kit?"

Naruto blinked for a moment and said, "Can nee-chan go in first?"

Locust and Spider exchanged a look and the kunoichi responded, "Sure, I'll go first."

Meanwhile, Cat, Eagle, and Wolf were also exchanging a look that said something completely different than the one Locust and Spider had.

Spider reached for the door knob, twisted it, opened the door, and stepped through the door-way.

A bucket of bright orange paint splashed down on her, followed by star-shaped sparkles in a multitude of colors.

There was silence for a few moments until, "UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

* * *

The Data Book: So You Want to Be an ANBU?

It's not easy to get into the most elite rank of the ninja hierarchy.

First, you have to pass a semi-annual exam. The exact date of these exams is never set in stone, and it has been held at one o'clock in the morning more than once. The exam mainly consists of how you react in certain situations, and whether or not you could survive while relying on and helping your teammates. This section is where most of the possible recruits get eliminated.

Then comes a grueling training period. You will be trained in the ways of the ANBU by a member who is most likely on a light rest period because of injuries, or a ninja that had reached the maximum number of missions anyone can do within a certain time period. Some ninja do quit during this period of time. The drop-out rate was highest during Wolf's first tenure in ANBU, and it dropped immediately when he left.

After that, you still aren't done yet. Even though you have been trained to be an ANBU, you still don't know what's it's actually like. So, you will be assigned as a shadow member to an already existing team, hence the name shadow member. This period of time lasts until the team you are shadowing feels that you have enough experience to actually join a team. Some shadow members end up becoming a part of the team they were shadowing if a member of that team died or resigned. The least number of recruits quit here, probably because they have found their determination to become an ANBU.

You receive your ANBU gear and your mask at the end of you training period. At this point in time your mask is blank and non-charged, meaning that it will stay blank. Once you are done with the shadowing period, you're mask will be charged. You will be able to let your chakra flow through the charged mask and the mask's design will form based on your personality and chakra.

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And that's it for Chapter 3! Drop a review with any questions or comments you have, if you wish.


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